The ‘beautifully designed’ place to stay that is officially the best boutique hotel in London

London hosts plenty of the world’s mightiest global hotel chains. Don’t get us wrong, many of those are supremely fancy hotels – but all too often they’re a tad generic. Perfect if you want to stay somewhere familiar, but not-so-great if you’re looking for a bit of character and identity for your London stay.

Fortunately, the capital also has plenty of boutique hotels that are just as luxurious as those aforementioned chains but far less predictable. It’s those kinds of stays that Time Out has highlighted in our ranking of London’s best boutique hotels, which was recently given a major overhaul.

Eleven hotels make the list, ranging from cacti-filled Shoreditch hideaways and arty places to stay in Battersea to splendorous historic Soho establishments. It was all curated by Time Out’s network of expert hotel reviewers, headed up by editor Joe Mackertich.

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Top of the ranking was, drum roll please… The July. According to us, the Victoria aparthotel blends the ‘the independence of an apartment with the comfort of a hotel’ and features ‘a beautifully designed space with a modern, curated aesthetic’.

The July opened in June 2025 on Vauxhall Bridge Road. It occupies two converted townhouses and two office buildings, within which are 114 rooms ranging from compact studios to six-person apartments. Designed by Fettle (which was also behind The Hoxton Rome and Locke Paris), its rooms are packed with delights ranging from Smeg appliances to Marie-Stella-Maris toiletries.

In a five-star review of the place, Chiara Wilkinson described on-site restaurant The Idler as ‘gorgeous’ and said the staff ‘strike the perfect balance between laid-back charm and professional hospitality’.

She said: ‘If you want somewhere genuinely nice to stay without breaking the bank – somewhere with taste and attention to detail – and you need to be somewhere well connected, stay here.’

You can read Time Out’s full list of the best boutique hotels in London here.

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